Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MATTRESS FACTORY ANNOUNCES Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art October 16, 2010 - February 27, 2011 Opening Reception: Friday, October 15, 2010, 6-9pm   PITTSBURGH, PA (September 14, 2010) – Twelve contemporary Cuban artists will address the issues of racism and prejudice at the Mattress Factory. Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art (www.queloides-exhibit.com) is organized by Alejandro de la Fuente, a scholar of race relations in Cuba, and Elio Rodríguez Valdés, a Cuban artist and curator. Queloides will open with a public reception from 6:00PM to 9:00PM on Friday, October 15.    The exhibition runs through February 27, 2011.   The artists, who were all born in Cuba, include Pedro Álvarez, Manuel Arenas, Belkis Ayón, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Roberto Diago, Alexis Equivel, Armando Mariño, René Peña, Marta María Pérez Bravo, Douglas Pérez, Elio Rodíguez, and José Toirac/Meira Marrero.   “This is the first time in post-revolutionary Cuba the word ‘racism’ has appeared in the title of an exhibition. Because of this, I have now been banned from Cuba. It is a high price to pay, but we must do what we can to help break the official silence on racism.”                                 – Alejandro de la Fuente, Co-Curator of Queloides   Queloides is an art exhibit that seeks to contribute to current debates about the persistence of racism in contemporary Cuba and elsewhere in the world. The exhibit was hosted at the Centro Wifredo Lam in Havana (April 16 - May 31, 2010), and some of the same artworks will be on view at the Mattress Factory (October 16, 2010 - February 27, 2011). The twelve artists invited to participate are renowned for their critical work on issues of race, discrimination, and identity.    After decades of official silence, discussions of “race” and racism have become prominent in contemporary Cuba. Since the early 1990s, numerous cultural actors—musicians, writers, painters, performers, and academics—began to do something that was previously unthinkable: they began to denounce the persistence of racial discrimination in Cuban socialist society.   Several of the artists collaborated in three important exhibits in Havana between 1997 and 1999 (titled Queloides I, Queloides II, and Neither Musicians nor Athletes). The last two were curated by the late Cuban art critic Ariel Ribeaux. All these exhibits dealt with issues of race and racism in contemporary Cuba, issues that had been taboo in public debates on the island for decades. “Queloides” (translated “Keloids”) are wound-induced scars. Although any wound may result in a keloid, many people in Cuba believe that black skin is particularly susceptible to them. Thus, the title evokes the persistence of racial stereotypes, on the one hand, and the traumatic process of dealing with racism, discrimination, and centuries of cultural conflict, on the other hand. Queloides includes several art forms--paintings, photographs, installations, sculptures, videos--and offers novel ways to ridicule and to dismantle the so-called racial differences.   For Queloides, the Mattress Factory is again working in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, in particular with the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). Founded in 1964, CLAS is one of the most outstanding programs of its kind in the nation, designated as a National Resource Center on Latin America by the U.S. Department of Education. As a NRC on Latin America, CLAS provides opportunities for cultural and educational experiences that realistically reflect Latin America and the Caribbean to the K-12 educational community, colleges and universities, business and professional communities as well as to the general public as part of its Educational Public Service mission. # # # Editor’s Note: The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art that presents “art you can get in to” – room-sized environments, created by in–residence artists. Located at 500 Sampsonia Way, on Pittsburgh’s North Side, since 1977, the Mattress Factory is hailed as the best facility for installation art in the United States.   Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Artwas made possible by generous support from the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, Inc., Ford Foundation, Lambent Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and the University of Pittsburgh's CRDF, CLAS, UCIS, Humanities Center, World History Center and the Dean of Arts and Sciences. The Mattress Factory’s artistic program is supported by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Heinz Endowments, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Mattress Factory members. Public Information:  Mattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, 412-231-3169  Website: www.queloides-exhibit.com, www.mattress.org  Blog: www.blog.mattress.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/MattressFactory Twitter: www.twitter.com/MattressFactory Videos: www.youtube.com/MattressFactory  Flickr: www.flickr.com/MattressFactory Hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Sunday: 1-5pm, Closed Monday  Museum Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors; $7 full-time students with current I.D. Free: CMU students, PITT students (Sepember - May), members and children under 6 years old   Hi. My name is Lindsay. As the Public Relations + Marketing Manager for the Mattress Factory, I'll always be the one communicating with you. You can get in touch with me here: Lindsay O'Leary Media + Public Relations Office: 412-231-3169 x232 Email: lindsay@mattress.org Twitter: @MattressFactory You are receiving this message because our records indicate you are a working member of the media. artsnews@absolutearts.com from this list. Our mailing address is: Mattress Factory 500 Sampsonia Way Pittsburgh, PA 15212 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2010 Mattress Factory All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile